Difference Between Compiler and Interpreter
A
Compiler and Interpreter both carry out the same purpose – convert a
high level language (like C, Java) instructions into the binary form
which is understandable by computer hardware. They are the software used
to execute the high level programs and codes to perform various tasks.
Specific compilers/interpreters are designed for different high level
languages. However both compiler and interpreter have the same objective
but they differ in the way they accomplish their task i.e. convert high
level language into machine language. Through this article we will talk
about the basic working of both and distinguish the basic difference between compiler and interpreter.
Compiler
A compiler
is a piece of code that translates the high level language into machine
language. When a user writes a code in a high level language such as
Java and wants it to execute, a specific compiler which is designed for
Java is used before it will be executed. The compiler scans the entire
program first and then translates it into machine code which will be
executed by the computer processor and the corresponding tasks will be
performed.
Shown
in the figure is basic outline of the compilation process, here program
written in higher level language is known as source program and the
converted one is called object program.
Interpreter
Interpreters
are not much different than compilers. They also convert the high level
language into machine readable binary equivalents. Each time when an
interpreter gets a high level language code to be executed, it converts
the code into an intermediate code before converting it into the machine
code. Each part of the code is interpreted and then execute separately
in a sequence and an error is found in a part of the code it will stop
the interpretation of the code without translating the next set of the
codes.
Outlining
the basic working of the interpreter the above figure shows that first a
source code is converted to an intermediate form and then that is
executed by the interpreter.
The main differences between compiler and interpreter are listed below:
· The
interpreter takes one statement then translates it and executes it and
then takes another statement. While the compiler translates the entire
program in one go and then executes it.
· Compiler
generates the error report after the translation of the entire page
while an interpreter will stop the translation after it gets the first
error.
· Compiler
takes a larger amount of time in analyzing and processing the high
level language code comparatively interpreter takes lesser time in the
same process.
· Besides
the processing and analyzing time the overall execution time of a code
is faster for compiler relative to the interpreter.
